Delicious Ingredients: The Best Podcasts of the Week – 1/19/18

Each week I will publish the most Delicious Ingredients of my Audible Feast … the scrumptious, delectable, savory, rich, sweet, spicy, and best podcasts that have fed my ears this week. They’re listed in no particular order. You can see what I’ve been listening to here to see the competition these shows beat out to earn their spot as the best of the week. I only listened to 33 episodes this week and there were tons of great ones, so it’s a big list this week! (Sometimes I listen to 70 and struggle to come up with a handful of greats, so thank you podcast producers for a great week!)

Atlanta Monster, Episode 03: Atlanta Monster Seized *First appearance on Delicious Ingredients* (1/18/18): What it’s about: “Atlanta asks, who is Wayne Williams?” Why it’s great: Atlanta Monster started off a tad slow for me, but hit its stride in the third episode. We’re finally introduced to the man in the show’s cover art, Wayne Williams, who we find out becomes accused, though not convicted, of the disappearance and murder of more than 20 young African American boys in the early 80s. It’s getting juicy and I’m looking forward to further investigative reporting from the team that investigated the Tara Grinstead murder on Up and Vanished. (59 minutes)
Twitter: @Atlanta_Monster

Atomic Moms: Writing Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Mom Life, & Fred Rogers’ Legacy with Becky Friedman (1/16/18): What it’s about: “The delightful Becky Friedman, twice Emmy nominated head writer of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood(PBS Kids), is in studio. We talk about her transition from preschool teacher to children’s media creator, her recent west coast migration, the new mom friends search, our babies’ celebrity dopplegangers, Fred Rogers’ legacy, our comedic screenwriter husbands named Adam (hers executive produced The Daily Show with John Stewart), the kid games we play while lying down from exhaustion, pregnancy while parenting a toddler, and her journey from intern to head writer of a cultural phenomenon. Of course, I also get to the bottom of important listener questions like: why doesn’t Daniel Tiger wear pants and how his mom is so frigging calm?” Why it’s great: My family includes a 3- and a 6-year old, so we are firmly planted in Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. I honestly have never wondered about Daniel’s lack of pants, but I did find it refreshing to hear that Friedman doesn’t pretend to exemplify calm Mom Tiger in her personal life at all times, but that the writing team wants to put the best Mom Tiger face forward. A very special bonus for me, being from the Fred Rogers era, was hearing the clip of him defending PBS to Congress. Super powerful and a tremendous reminder that we need to be patient, kind, and loving toward one another. (79 minutes)
Twitter: @atomicmoms

Criminal, Episode 82: The Choir (1/12/17): What it’s about: “As a child, Lawrence Lessig was a gifted singer. His church choir director encouraged him to attend a choir camp at a prestigious boarding school in New Jersey. He was so talented that the school invited him to stay and join their official choir. He sang at Carnegie Hall and toured the world. But it was what happened behind the scenes that would change his life forever.” Why it’s great: Lessig’s stunning bravery to be open enough to share his childhood sexual abuse by the hand of someone who is not behind bars floored me. His vivid storytelling painted a clear picture for me of what that boys’ choir school looked like, how his abuser worked his way into the pants of boys who didn’t know any better, and how he felt as he worked through the abuse as an adult. (41 minutes)
Twitter: @criminalshowRead my 4-star review of Criminal here! (September 2015 – I need to update this one with a more recent review!)

Neighbors: The Manifestor (1/16/17): What it’s about: “Everyone seems inspired by fitness instructor Katherine Tisha Wilson. People describe going to her class as “going to church.” Her fierceness comes at you instantly from the front of the class, but this high school dropout wasn’t always confident in herself. After a long road of disappointment, she found a fitness dance program and lost over 100 pounds, then used that momentum to start changing lives.” Why it’s great: Most people kick off a new calendar year with a positive look forward, often wanting to be healthier and to better take the bull by the horns. Wilson’s story of rising up time and time again leaves no doubt that those in her fitness class are fiercely loyal to her fierceness. (17 minutes)
Twitter: @neighborsnashRead my 4-star review of Neighbors here! (Updated April 2017)

Rumble Strip: Emergency (1/16/17): What it’s about: “There’s been a huge spike in the number of people with mental health crises visiting emergency rooms. People who are suicidal, homicidal, psychotic. But ER nurses are not trained to treat mental illnesses and the departments are not designed to comfort, to calm or to keep people safe from themselves or others. And though most people suffering from a mental health crisis are not dangerous or disruptive, some are. Nurses are being punched, bitten, spat at. Medical patients are being treated in the hallways because there isn’t enough room to accomodate them. And mental health patients are spending days, and sometimes weeks or months in emergency rooms, without treatment…waiting for placement at inpatient care facilities. Here’s an up-close look inside the mental healthcare crisis in our emergency rooms.” Why it’s great: Producer and host Erica Heilman excels at this style of collective, personal journal, human interest storytelling. There are some introspective moments here from Heilman herself that help put the listener in the nurses’ shoes. They need help. (26 minutes)
Twitter: @rumblestripvt

Denver Orbit, Episode 13: Echoes and Reverberations *First appearance on Delicious Ingredients* (1/10/17): What it’s about: “Episode thirteen of Denver Orbit features these things: Composer Nathan Hall talks to us about his music and process. His Kickstarter is here. The piece Marine A 2, from Elevator Music by Nathan Hall. You can watch the video here. The short story Animated Ethereal Worker Bees by Amanda EK. A version of this story first appeared in birdy magazine. The music of Tom Carter & Barry Weisblatt and Nettle was used to score Amanda’s story.” Why it’s great: This is the beauty of the #2PodsADay campaign: I would have never found Denver Orbit otherwise, because I don’t necessarily seek out artsy content and it can be hard to find out about “local” shows when you aren’t from the area. I really, really enjoyed getting lost in these two stories and love the idea that this community-based project features artists doing what they love and compiling it all together to make something beautiful. (31 minutes)

The Daily: January 18, 2018 *First appearance on Delicious Ingredients* (1/18/18): What it’s about: “America’s addiction crisis has become a lucrative business, and fortunes have been made in the growing rehab industry. But the death of a patient in California has raised questions about how to treat people who want to get clean, and what it means to profit from the health crisis.” Why it’s great: It’s only the first time The Daily has appeared on my Delicious Ingredients list because I just started listening to it. I figured I don’t really have time to listen to a daily podcast – but I’ll catch it once in a while. Now I’m finding I can’t stay away from it, the topics are so great. This Reveal-esque episode was a stark look at the profitability of rehab centers. I’m thrilled that U.S. legislation forces mental health care to be covered by insurance as much as other types of illness care, but this story proves once again that greed rules and everyone’s just trying to make a buck. (23 minutes)
Twitter: @mikiebarb

Slate’s Amicus with Dahlia Lithwick: #MeToo in the Courts *First appearance on Delicious Ingredients* (12/23/17): What it’s about: “The cultural whirlwind of #MeToo has reached the judiciary, reluctantly bringing Dahlia Lithwick into the fray along with it. In a piece for Slate, she detailed her firsthand experiences with Judge Alex Kozinski. Dahlia’s was one of many accounts that that have now surfaced. Heid Bond was one of the first women prepared to go on the record. A former clerk to Judge Kozinski, she now writes romance novels under the name Courtney Milan. You can read Bond’s piece here and Judge Kozinski’s statement here. We speak with three of Kozinski’s accusers—Heidi Bond, Emily Murphy, and Leah Litman—and hear their ideas about what needs to change to allow women to work safely and successfully in a system often shrouded in secrecy. Then Dahlia is joined by Mark Joseph Stern for a run through the headline arguments and decisions from the Supreme Court in 2017 and a look ahead at what to expect in 2018.” Why it’s great: One comment absolutely made this episode for me. Men need to look at how they are talking to women at work, and that they should think just a little bit longer before actually saying what they plan to say. Use your brain, men. Build a little filter on your brain that says “is this a good idea?” When in doubt, don’t say it. It doesn’t mean women are prudish, that they can’t “take a joke,” or that “everyone is so sensitive these days.” Taking that extra second to think is necessary to check your male privilege and start to work toward true workplace equality. (66 minutes)
Twitter: @DahliaLithwick

The Hilarious World of Depression: Reggie Osse Puts it Together (1/15/18): What it’s about: “In one of the last interviews he gave, Reggie Osse, aka Combat Jack, talks about the connection between the status of the African-American man in contemporary society, the changing role of masculinity in hip-hop culture, and mental health. Osse was an important figure in hip-hop as a lawyer, editor, podcast host, and thinker. This interview was conducted in October of 2017, and Osse died on December 20th of that year.” Why it’s great: I loved the discussion between John Moe and Reggie Osse about the difference between hip hop generations; Jay-Z means something different, and rapped/raps with a different purpose and meaning than Kendrick Lamar or even Kanye West. I also loved the signature discussion point in every episode of THWofD where guests talk about their own depression and anxiety; Osse was very transparent and introspective. (51 minutes)
Twitter: @THWofD

Here Be Monsters, HBM090: Two Small Creatures with Human Eyes (1/17/18): What it’s about: “Natural history museums are art galleries. Scientifically focussed art galleries, but art galleries nonetheless.” Why it’s great: A classic story from Jeff Emtman about something that seems super creepy at the outset, but becomes way less creepy by the end of the episode. All it takes is Emtman consulting some experts about the eyeballs of some tiny humans he saw in a museum. (25 minutes)
Twitter: @hbmpodcastRead my 5-star review of Here Be Monsters here! (January 2016)